Welding carts designed for use in welding shops have been available almost as long as welder operators have been using gas or electric welding and cutting equipment. But generally less than half of all welding is done in the comfort of the shop—most is done in the field. Yet few improvements have been made for field welding carts. Preferably a field cart would be light enough to be loaded into a work vehicle for transport from the shop to the field, would be easy to move over the rough terrain of a construction site, would safely support and carry a compressed gas cylinder, would safely carry any of a variety of types of welding or mechanical equipment, but would also be compact and convenient for use in the confines of the shop environment.
Most current welding carts are not suitable for both shop and field use. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 7,114,732 titled “All-Terrain Welding Cart” issued Oct. 3, 2006 to Jeffery A. Ismail is designed for use in the field in rough terrain and designed for pulling by a hitch, but it is too large and cumbersome for use in a shop. It does not appear to be configured for road use, so moving it from job site to job site would require loading it onto a road-use trailer or into a truck. But even when empty, it appears too heavy to be lifted into a truck for transport, yet it is designed to carry equipment making it significantly heavier and even more difficult to handle. Pulling it by hand through rough terrain and up a hillside would be too labor intensive, requiring a vehicle to pull it in most situations. Its design and size are similar to a trailer which, though suitable for wide open field areas, would not be suitable in most shops where there is limited room. Further, the heavy compressed gas cylinder must be lifted into the top frame. In contrast, the present invention can be loaded into a work vehicle with ease. It can be pushed by hand through rough terrain without the need for a vehicle to pull it, and it is still small enough to be used in a shop without taking up a large amount of room. Also, the present invention does not require that the heavy compressed gas cylinder be lifted to the top of the cart.
Other conventional welding carts are not suitable for rough field use. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,116,623 titled “Dual Cylinder Cart with Firewall Divider” issued Sep. 12, 2000 to Frank S. Salvucci provides a cart functional for its intended use to provide a firewall between two cylinders during transport of the cylinders. However, its design makes it suitable for only one welding process, it cannot carry or store equipment or welding units, and it does not have pneumatic tires to travel across rough terrain or loose sand. With this dual cylinder cart it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to access most places outside of a shop or off a hard flat surface.
Some conventional welding carts do not even make allowance for carrying compressed gas cylinders. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,174,736 titled “Carriage for Cutting Torches” issued Apr. 20, 1962, to E. H. Cameron depicts a welding torch cart that has been specifically designed to be held in a fixed carriage. It does not allow space to carry a compressed gas cylinder; it does not have pneumatic tires so its ability to move over rough terrain is limited; and it also lacks the ability to hold different sized welders.
Also, the following patents do not have a means to carry a compressed gas cylinder nor do they have suitable tires for traveling over rough field terrain: U.S. Pat. No. 5,693,286 titled “Cart Mounting A Welding Torch or Cutting Torch” issued Dec. 2, 1997, to Isamu Hatanaka, Yariaki Kaneko, and Kenichi Nezu; U.S. Pat. No. D322,501 titled “Welding Cart” issued Dec. 17, 1991, to Timothy J. Legault; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,778,154 titled “Welding Torch Carriage” issued Oct. 18, 1988, to Crespin Cortez, Jr. The Hatanaka cart is designed to run on a stationary track. The Legault welding cart is an all-purpose carrying cart and has only back wheels. The Cortez welding torch cart has wheels with a peripheral knife edge.
Another problem with currently available welding carts is the lack of stability and balance and lack of suitable platforms and holders for the equipment that is required to be carried. These problems are intensified by the variety of loads that are necessarily carried in diverse work environments. A welding cart should remain stable when loaded with or without a heavy compressed gas cylinder, when loaded with miscellaneous tools, and when loaded with differing sizes and types of welding machines. Yet many conventional welding carts are top heavy when loaded or when the compressed gas cylinder is carried. Many conventional carts do not have satisfactory platforms, shelves, or holders for safely securing and transporting standard welding equipment and tools.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,109,644 titled “Utility Wagon” issued Aug. 29, 2000, to Lem L. Cox discloses a utility wagon having an adjustable base upon which can be mounted one of a variety of different chassis. It is not specifically designed for a welding unit or a compressed gas cylinder, so it has no mechanism to support the cylinder or to carry the cylinder in a safe manner. Nor does this wagon have a platform to support a welding unit or an area to store other tools or accessories.
Due to the acknowledged problems with using a conventional welding cart in the field, such as safely carrying a heavy compressed gas cylinder and moving the cart over rough terrain, attempts have been made to avoid using gas welding processes in the field. In fact, many advances in welding process have been made over the years specifically to avoid carrying the compressed gas cylinder. But those processes tend to be very messy and expensive; the gas welding process is cleaner and more cost effective. In some cases gas processes are required on job sites making carrying a compressed gas cylinder unavoidable. The present invention eliminates the draw backs in using the gas welding process and in transporting the compressed gas cylinder inside the shop, on a construction site, or out in rough terrain.
A number of currently available welding carts have other problems. Some are not balanced when loaded, but may tip over during use. Some are not durable, which is a significant problem considering the punishing work environment to which a typical welding cart is subjected. Commonly currently available welding cars are manufactured of flat or bent sheet metal that is typically assembled by the purchaser by bolting the numerous pieces together. While a welding cart so constructed may be shipped in a smaller package, the resulting cart is flimsy and unsubstantial when loaded for use. It is also more prone to tipping over and to breaking when taken over rough surfaces. Thus currently available welding carts are not sufficiently robust and long lasting.
Some currently available welding carts lack an efficient method to roll and store electrical extension cords to power equipment transported on the welding card. For example, some have no cord hangers, or the hangers they have are positioned low so the operator must bend down to access them. Or the included hangers are small and so are only suitable for a short electrical cord, yet often the work site is far from the nearest electrical outlet, so the cord necessarily may be over one hundred feet long.
Accordingly, there is an established need for a durable, stable welding cart that is convenient and serviceable for use in a shop or in the field, that is balanced and stable when loaded with or without a compressed gas cylinder, and that is configured with suitable platforms and holders for securing and transporting standard welding tools and equipment.